health news

Americans' health improved by 18 percent between 1990 and 2000, but has leveled off over the past four years and may be about to decline, according to the 2008 America's Health Rankings report released Wednesday.Weight gain, tobacco addiction and rising rates of chronic diseases are the most serious threats to previous advances in the nation's health, USA Today reported. Read also The Key Findings Of America's Health Rankings.read more

Linda Carruthers tries hard to be responsible, to do the right thing, to stay insured.But the 62-year-old widow in Upper Dublin recently found out her health-insurance premiums will rise more than 45 percent in January, from $6,384 to $9,336 a year.

Health news from around the Web.

Athens - Greece's health ministry is pushing to implement a ban outlawing smoking in all public places, including restaurants, bars and offices by the summer - a half year earlier than required by law...

The way contracts for legal services are awarded in the health service must improve, a committee is to hear.

While all of the long-term effects of marijuana use are not yet known, there are studies showing serious health concerns.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Chemotherapy can help treat cancer, but it can also have a host of side effects.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Many women who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy will go on to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

Despite the well-known dangers of first- and secondhand smoke, an estimated ten percent of pregnant women in the U.S. are smokers. Exposure of a developing baby to harmful cigarette byproducts from mothers who smoke affects an estimated 420,000 newborns each year and poses a significant health care burden.

A new paper released today by The George Institute for International Health is warning a cardiovascular disease based epidemic is gaining pace among many low- and middle-income countries , exemplified at its ...